To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
CC: Election Commission
From: Lisa Anderson, Town Clerk
Title
Department Update: Election Status and Redistricting
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Election Results
On May 24, 2018 following the eight-day waiting period to cure invalid signatures per State Statute, the Municipal Judge performed the Canvass for the May 15, 2018 Special Election. There were seven ballots cured and added to the unofficial results. The Town Clerk has issued the Certificate of Election (Attachment A).
There were 39,788 ballots mailed and 8,558 total ballots received (21.5% return). Official results are:
Amendment A
Yes 7,610
No 877
Amendment B
Yes 7,820
No 686
Redistricting
With passage of Amendment A, the Election Commission may begin the process to redistrict from seven to six districts and must complete by July 31, 2018. Per the transition plan, we obtained voter registration populations from the Douglas County voter database on May 1, 2018. As of May 1, there were 45,528 registered voters, which calculates to approximately 7,588 voters per District if evenly split among six districts.
The redistricting process is strictly the decision of the Election Commission; and they must remain neutral and impartial and comply with the guidelines outlined in our Charter as follows:
• The Election Commission shall change the boundaries of districts so that the number of registered electors in the smallest district is not less than eighty-five percent of the number of registered electors in the district with the highest number of registered electors.
• Districts shall be contiguous and compact whenever possible.
• No change in district boundaries shall create a vacancy during the term of any Councilmember in office at the time of the change.
• In addition, the previous Election Commission Redistricting Plan included preserving communities of interest.
Process and Scenarios
Staff developed a process that calculates the number of registered voters in areas selected. This mapping tool identifies sub-regions (neighborhoods) that can be selected to be included in a district or allows more granular selection if desired. Staff will obtain areas of anticipated growth to project increased voter population before the next redistricting that occurs in 2021. Several draft scenarios will be presented to the Election Commission as a starting point.
Next Steps
The first redistricting meeting will be on May 30 at 6pm in Council Chambers. Staff will present the draft scenarios and request direction from the Election Commission on how to proceed next.
Additional meetings will be held as needed. Based on the Election Commission availability, staff identified potential dates for future meetings: June 11, 18, 21, 25, and 26 at 6pm at Townhall. Not all of these meetings will occur or more meetings may be necessary and called as needed. All meetings are open to the public.
Attachments
Attachment A: Certificate of Election